What do carrots, greenbacks and green energy have in common?

Stockton's first "carrot mob" will swarm La Palma restaurant Saturday. In exchange for all the business, the owners have agreed to green up the building.

Michael Fitzgerald

Stockton's first "carrot mob" will swarm La Palma restaurant Saturday. In exchange for all the business, the owners have agreed to green up the building.

A carrot mob is a large group (the "mob") which constructively uses its buying power (the "carrot") to persuade businesses to adopt better practices.

It's a "buycott," not a boycott. The idea is to help a local business, make the world a better place, and have fun.

"I want to leave Stockton as a city being better than it was when I came," said Brian Kiely, who dressed up as a giant carrot to drum up support for the event.

Kiely is a student at University of the Pacific. This carrot mob germinated on campus. But it is not exclusively a Pacific thing. You can join, too.

First things first, though. What's it like to dress like a giant carrot?

"A lot of people just say, ... 'Dude, why are you dressed like a carrot?' " Kiely said. "I say, 'You know what? That is the question I was hoping you would ask.' "

Kiely and others recruited at least 200 students, and perhaps twice that number. Each buys a $10 ticket. La Palma devised several menu items to fit the price.

Between noon and 5 p.m. Saturday, student groups of 50 will stroll from the campus to La Palma on the Miracle Mile stretch of Pacific Avenue.

In exchange for this welcome rush of business, La Palma's owners have agreed to invest 25 percent of the proceeds into making their building more sustainable.

If 150 people go, and La Palma makes $1,500, it will invest $375 in energy efficient lighting.

If 300 people go, and La Palma makes $3,000, the owners will chip in $3,000 more and replace four old refrigerators with a $6,000 walk-in that saves energy overall.

"I just think that the carrot mob is a really good idea for the community," said La Palma manager Manuel Guizar. "It strengthens the relationship between the UOP kids and the Stockton community, especially the Miracle Mile. Not to mention all the money."

Students at Pacific's Global Center for Social Entrepreneurship embraced the carrot mob concept because it combines their values, their buying power and college fun.

"Therefore it's the perfect opportunity to show some youth power as well and how they can influence the private sector to be more energy efficient and socially responsible," said Jerry Hildebrand, the center's executive director.

Students chose the Miracle Mile because it's within walking distance of the campus. They pitched the idea to three businesses. The one that pledged the highest percentage of revenues towards green improvements got the deal.

Besides the carrot guy, students are promoting the event through posters and social media. One student finagled a T-shirt shop to donate carrot mob tees to the first 200 students.

"This thing has gone viral, man," said Hildebrand. "It's huge."

It's also good education. "It teaches students by doing," Hildebrand said. "It's real hands-on, experiential learning that they can make a difference. That's what I really like about this thing."

Student Lauren Peterson said she's mobbing up because, "Not only are students getting a great meal out of it, but they are also positively impacting on Stockton as a community, which I think is a great thing for our university to do.

"Yes, it's fun to socialize and all that stuff," she added. But, "It opened my eyes to a kind of different side of business that I've never really considered before."

You, too, can fill your belly with comida Mexicana and make the world a better place. Eat at La Palma, 2301 Pacific Ave., between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. Saturday. Tickets for $10 will be available there.

I'd go after 5 p.m. to avoid the crush of students, unless you like crushes of students.

Another student organizer, Mustafa Babak, said he hopes the carrot mob event will be the first of many.

"This is not a one-time deal," Babak said. "We hope that this becomes a tradition in Stockton. So that every year we have a carrot mob and support a business. And make a difference in our community."